Aubrey & Lindsay's Beautiful DIY Basement Studio Desk

Unplggd reader Lindsay wrote in to share their DIY desk project, constructed from common materials sourced from IKEA and Home Depot, alongside the addition of plenty of elbow grease. The customized and spacious workspace was inspired by the Bedford Collection from Pottery Barn, but we think Aubrey & Lindsay's DIY version trumps the store option in storage and finish. More details below.

For my new studio in our new basement, I needed a bigger desk. For a few weeks I was considering systems like the Bedford Collection from Pottery Barn but when I started to add it all up, it was going to be over $1,000, possibly closer to $2,000 considering the lengh of desk that I needed/wanted. Ouch! I didn't want to break the bank for the desk, however, I also didn't want to sacrifice style, or function. Instead of multiple digits for this size of a desk, it worked out to be $300.00.

Instead of drawers, I added Ikea baskets that fit perfectly. In each basket, "like items" are sorted together. Right beside my chair is a little basket with pens and pencils. Other baskets hold paint chip decks, camera cords, and items that I need on a regular basis.

The Ikea base unit serves as awesome storage for all of that computer stuff I wanted to keep off my desk. It holds my CPU unit, my subwoofer, battery backup...all the stuff that you need, but don't want to see. I put the top shelf higher on this unit, allowing room for the CPU unit, but the top shelf holds my graphic tablet and scanner, that I pull out when I need to use it.

Aubrey and Lindsay documented the whole process, from cutting, sanding, staining, up till they secured all their cables/wires underneath and behind the desk over at their blog for those of you who want to follow in their DIY footsteps.